Final Fantasy VIII Nightmares
by Gunblade Queen
Summary: 'Nightmares' of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Two with Final Fantasy VIII characters replacing key roles.


Untitled Document

Final Fantasy VIII Nightmares

Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy VIII characters belong to Squaresoft. All Buffy related scenarios and belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

Prologue: A Nightmare's End

Into every generation, a chosen one is born. One who will recieve the powers of Hyne and use them against the demons, the dragons and the geezards. She is the sorceress.

"Singin' in the bathtub, dooby dooby doo....."

Taking an overly deep breath, Zell dunked his head beneath the bubbles again, still rubbing the apple scented bar of soap under his armpits. This had to be the most blissful experience of his life. After a day of battles, action and saving the world from monsters and whichever new form of evil was threatening Balamb or anywhere else in the world, he could finally relax and enjoy bathtime. His bathtime. His hair soaked, even he couldn't resist the temptation and gave himself the most outrageous mohican ever to grace Garden's interior. But that didn't satisfy his bathtime pleasure. He lowered his eyes to the bubbled and grinned wildly. This was something that just HAD to be done.

Stepping out of the bath, wrapping a towel around his waist, Zell admired himself in the mirror. Yes, he definitely suited a bubble beard. Twisting himself around to get a variety of poses in, he nodded in agreement. He was the Bubble King. Since he had full access to the mirror, he decided to put it to even greater use. Knowing that he was alone, he released his grip on the towel around his waist and flexed his muscles in the mirror. Those fists of his were still in great shape, as was he. 

A large splodge of bubbles slid from his chin and dropped to the floor. Looking down at them, Zell's attention was first drawn to his surroundings. What the HELL was he doing on the stage in the Quad? More to the point, what was a bathtub doing on the stage in the quad? That was when he heard the voice. Someone whispering his name over and over again almost hypnotically.

"Psst...Zell....over here...." 

Zell spun around to see someone stood in the shadows, the faint glint of the stage's lights reflecting in their sapphire coloured eyes. Even their half concealed body wasn't enough to fool Zell. "Seifer..." he hissed, wondering briefly what the former SeeD cadet was doing in Garden. That was when it happened.

Seifer grabbed what looked like a curtain tie and tugged it hard. Like a stage from one of the older theatres, the curtain that was shielding Zell from the rest of the Quad was parted and he was left standing alone in the stage, his jaw hanging ajar as he was greeted by the sight that had been hidden by the dark, rose coloured curtain. 

Every single SeeD, both cadet, Instructor and member were all gathered in the quad. Quistis was there, her face a pure mask of utter disbelief. Selphie was there and while Zell almost expected her to errupt into a fit of giggles, she imitated Quistis' look of utter shock. He spotted everyone else darted around in the crowd of otherwise nameless faces. Irvine, Cid, Edea, Rajin, Fujin and Nida. Squall and Rinoa were stood in the centre, clearly not knowing what to say. But there was one face that Zell had been hoping to the Guardians would not be there. The girl from the library. 

At that point, Zell convinced himself that the whole situation couldn't even get any worse.

He was wrong.

The very second he'd locked eyes with the girl from the library....the towel around his waist slid off.

**********

"B...bastard...." Zell groaned, tossing and turning in his bed. Despite this somewhat unusual outburst, Squall continued to shake him. "Maybe, but you still have to attend classes" he replied somewhat flatly. Garden wasn't a daycare centre and Zell certainly didn't need any of this bedside manner stuff. He could get himself up like every other SeeD in Garden. However, as reluctant as he was about it, he was the Commander of SeeD. If Irvine had been complaining about Zell's sleeping habits then he would have to sort it out, despite the somewhat lengthly argument that took place regarding Irvine's capabilities when it came to waking up Mr Dincht.

"Huh....huh?" Zell blinked the sleep out of his eyes, slowly sitting up. "Squall? Whatcha doin', man? Somethin' happened?" he hastily pulled the blanket over his waist and chest. Not only was the image of his nightmare still haunting him, but he didn't wish to see Squall's reactions to the pajamas he was wearing. 

"You were having a nightmare" Squall said bluntly. "Irvine said you haven't been sleeping well lately." The inner struggle came back. Was he supposed to ask if he was alright or simply tell him to get over it and return to class. He thought about it some more. What would Rinoa say?

"Are you okay?"

Well duh! People having nightmares are just peachy, Squall!

Squall mentally told his conscience to sod off. He was learning social skills the way a child learns to ride a bike. Eager to learn but still prefers to walk and take it slow.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. Just been havin' a few rough night's that's all. So what's our mission for today? Who's ass we gonna be kickin' this morning?"

"The T-Rexaur's" Squall replied, standing up. "All missions are either completed or in the process of being cleaned up. We still have to train and we're going to do that today."

Before Zell could launch into a fit of whining or a small lecture, Squall made a hasty exit back into the dormitory corridor of Garden. He'd been up less than thirty minutes and he could tell it was going to be one of those days.

Before striding off towards the Training Centre, he could faintly make out a groan of utter disappointment from the other side of Zell's dorm room door. 


End file.
